Saw horse



J. E. HEARN Nov. 12, 1963 SAW HORSE Filed Sept. 29, 1961 INVENTOR.

J0fl/1 192%? Uite States tet This invention relates generally to sawhorses or work horses as they are sometimes known in the art, and moreparticularly to a saw horse which may be collapsed or folded into arelatively compact package, for ease and convenience in transportingarid/or storing the same.

Saw horses are well known in the art, but such articles of manufactureare generally or" more or less rigid construction, and due to therelative bulkiness of the article, transporting or storing thereofpresents space problems.

The present invention provides a saw horse construc tion which is lightin weight, and which is readily collapsed or folded for convenience instoring or transporting the saw horse, but which when unfolded into itsconventional form, provides a generally rigid frame for work purposes.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide an improved sawhorse construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide a saw horse constructionof light weight, but sturdy construction, and including means forreadily folding or collapsing the saw horse into a relatively compactpackage.

Anot er object of the invention is to provide a saw horse constructionof the above type which is easily folded or collapsed into a compactpackage for transporting or storage, but which is just as easilyunfolded and set up for working purposes.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a saw horseconstruction including means for selectively varying the height of thesaw horse.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a saw horseconstruction of the above type which is comparatively economical inconstruction, and which can be readily manufactured.

Gther objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a broken, side elevational view of a saw horse produced inaccordance with the instant invention;

2 is an end elevational view of the FlG. 1 show- FIG. 3 is afragmentary, sectional view taken generally along the plane of line 3-3of PEG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, sectional, fragmentary elevational View of amodified form of retaining the legs of the saw horse in predeterminedtelescoped condition;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, side elevational View showing the componentparts of the saw horse in folded condition.

Referring new again to the drawings, the saw horse may comprise alongitudinally extending rail or body element 1% with paired legassemblies 14, 14, depending therefrom adjacent the ends of the bodyelement it Each of the legs of each leg assembly 14 or 1 may comprise anupper portion in which is disposed in telescopin relation, a lowerportion 13. The lower leg portion 13 may have a plurality of openings2t) extending therethrough, which openings 29 are adapted for selectivealignment with an opening 22. extending through the upper leg portion16. A holding element 24, such as a bolt and nut assembly, may bedisposed in the aligned of said openings 29, 22, for selectively holdingthe lower leg portion 18 in predetermined telescoped relation in theupper leg portion 16 to thereby provide for selective varying of the lenth of each leg. A supporting plate or foot portion 25 may be provided atthe lower end or" each lower leg portion 13, for steadying the saw horsewhen disposed in non-collapsed or working condition. Cross element 27may be provided between the legs of each leg assembly, for rigidifyingthe latter. Each leg assembly 14, 14 is connected to the longitudinallyextending body element id as by means of a hinged connecting plate 39.

Plate element 3d comprises an upper portion 32 secured to the body 1% ofthe work horse, and a lower portion 32 pivotally connected or hinged tothe upper portion 32 and as at 33. The leg assemblies 14, 14,, may beconnected to the low-er portion 32 of the respective plate element 39 byany suitable means, such as for instance, the threaded fastener means34-, or, as for instance, by welds.

Abutment elements 36 are provided in secured relation to the undersideof the body element iii, adjacent a corresponding end thereof, andadapted for abutting engagei cut with the lower portion 32, of therespective hinge plate for limiting outward pivotal movement of thecorresponding leg assembly. The abutting face or portion 38 of eachabutment element 36 is preferably disposed at a diagonal with respect tothe body element it and as shown, so that the leg assemblies divergeoutwardly in a downward direction, and with respect to one another, whenthe saw horse is in its non-collapsed or working condition.

A racket as is secured to the body element 16 generally centrallythereof, and brace assemblies 42 are pivotally mounted or connected, asat ed, to such bracket for swinging movement in a vertical plane. Eachbrace assembly comprises a paired arrangement of elongated strutelements 45, 45 which are pivotally coupled together as at 43 adjacentcorresponding ends, and as by means of a pin, and with the strut ele ients 46;, being preferably generally loosely pivotally connected as at5%, to the respective cross member 27, for swinging movement in agenerally vertical plane. A preferably tapered sleeve or collar member52 is provided on each brace assembly 42 so that when the collar is sliddown over the pinned adjacent ends of the strut elements 46, 45 suchstrut elements are held in generally rigid condition with respect to oneanother. ln this connection, the interior opening through the sleeve orcollar is tapered divergingly in a downward direction so that the collarwill be frictionally retained in place when in encircling orencompassing relation with the respective ends of strut elements 46,46,.

Flexible bracket members ss, 56,, are secured to the underside of thebody lu l, intermediate bracket 49 and each hinge plate 39, so that whenthe leg assemblies are swung inwardly to collapse the saw horse, thestrut el ments as, do, can be engaged with the resilient legs 56 of abracket and be releasably held or clamped in position, thus holding theleg assemblies in collapsed condition.

Referring now in particular to FIG. 5, when it is desired to collapsethe saw horse for transporting or storage purposes, each of the collarmembers 52 may be slid lengthwise in a upward direction along therespective brace assembly to thereby permit pivotal movement between thearticulated ends of the strut elements of each brace assembly. The legassemblies 1 14 are then swung inwardly about their respective pivots33, which may cause inward collapsing movement of the strut elements 46,46 with respect to one another, until such strut elements are receivedin held relationship in the respective bracket 56,

56,, thereby holding the leg assemblies in collapsed condition.

The brace assemblies d2 are preferably so arranged that they may also becollapsed or pivoted outwardly with respect to one another about theirpivot points 43, whereupon the brace assembly on, for instance, the lefthand end (with reference to 1 16. 1) of the saw horse would swingoutwardly and upwardly about pivot point 44 and be received in heldrelation in bracket 56,, on the right hand side of the saw horse, whilethe brace assembly on the right hand end of the saw horse would pivotoutwardly and upwardly and be received in held coaction in the br ckct56 on the left hand side of the saw horse. Strut elements 45, 4-6,, arepreferably disposed in side-by-side pivoted relation, as best shown inFIG. 2, so that in the event that outward pivotal collapsing movement ofthe bracing assemblies is effected, they will not interfere with oneanother during such outward and upward swinging movement.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a modified form of means forholding the leg portions 16, 18 in predetermined telescoped relation. inthis embodiment, the outer or upper leg portion 1% is provided with alocking pin assembly 66 which includes a spring 62 secured at one end tothe outer leg element 16 and at the other end to a reciprocable pinmember 54. Pin member 6 3 may include a head portion 66, for conveniencein gripping the pin, and moving it outwardly against the resistance ofthe spring and out of locking coaction with a selected opening 67 in thelower leg portion 13.

The saw horse may be constructed of light weight materials, such as forinstance high strength aluminum, and can be produced from standard formsof tubular and/or rod configurations of such aluminum. The lightness ofweight is desirable in facilitating handling and use of the saw horsedevice.

From the foregoing discussion and accompanying drawings, it will be seenthat the invention provides a novel saw horse construction which may bereadily collapsed into a compact easily transported or stored package,including means for selectively varying the length of the legs of thesaw horse, for facilitating worizing operations. The invention alsoprovides a saw horse construction which may be readily collapsed orfolded and which can be just as readily unfolded and set-up into workingcondition, and which when in the latter condition, provides asubstantially rigid frame for working purposes.

The terms and expressions which have been used, are used as terms ofdescription and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the useof such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of any of thefeatures shown or described, or portions thereof, but it is recognizedthat various modifications are possible within the scope of theinvention claimed.

1 claim:

In a saw horse comprising, a longitudinally extending tubular body oflight weight material, leg assemblies depending from said body adjacentopposite ends thereof for collapse the saw house into a compact package,said attaching means including hinge-like members extending transverselyof the body and each having a lower abut merit plate portion to whichthe legs of the respective leg assembly are attached, abutment meansdepending from said body in outwandly oriented relation to saidhingelilre members and adapted for abutting coaction with the respectiveplate portion, for limiting the outward pivotal movement of therespective leg assembly with respect to the body, selectivelycollapsible bracing means extending between each leg assembly and saidbody for rigidifying said saw horse in the latters non-collapsedcondition, said bracing means of both leg assemblies being generallyco-p'lanar, with each of said bracing means comprising a pair ofelongated strut elements, a bracket depending from said body centrallythereof, one of said strut elements of each bracing means beingpivotally connected at one end thereof to said transverse connectingelement of the respective leg assembly, and the other of said strutelements of each bracing means being pivotally connected at one endthereof to said bracket along a common transver-sely extending axis,said strut elements being adapted for swinging movement in a generallyvertical direction, the other ends of said strut elements of each ofsaid bracing means being disposed in generally laterally juxtaposedcondition and being pivotally connected together along a transverselyextending axis adjacent the juxtaposed ends thereof, collar meansselectively movable along respective of said strut elements forselectively holding said juxtaposed ends thereof in non-pivotal relationwith respect to one another in the non-collapsed condition'of the sawhorse, and clamping means for each of said bracing means, includinglaterally spaced resilient fingers depending from said body inwardly ofthe respective hinge-like member and intermediate the latter and saidbracket, adapted to receive in snap-fastening releasible relation therespective bracing means when the latter is in the collapsed conditionand the respective of said leg assemblies is in folded condition, forreleasably holding said leg assemblies in said folded condition, saidresilient clamping means in the last mentioned condition of the sawhorsebeing adapted to extend intermediate the legs of the respective legassembly, and with the distance between each clamping means and thepivotal connection of the respective leg assembly being less than thedistance between said transverse connecting element and the lastmentioned pivotal connection of the respective leg assembly.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

